Most of the value in college basketball is the brands, not the players themselves. If the best 50 players in every high school class went to the G-League instead of college, college basketball would take a slight hit, but would it fundamentally change March Madness? I'd say no. People mostly watch to root for their school or the school in the region that they live in, because of gambling (whether traditional or in the form of bracket contests) and because the format is fun and leads to a bunch of upsets. It's really probably in everybody's best interest that a move towards more money in the G-League happens and that players with no interest in school play there.

Most of the value in college basketball is the brands, not the players themselves. If the best 50 players in every high school class went to the G-League instead of college, college basketball would take a slight hit, but would it fundamentally change March Madness? I'd say no. People mostly watch to root for their school or the school in the region that they live in, because of gambling (whether traditional or in the form of bracket contests) and because the format is fun and leads to a bunch of upsets. It's really probably in everybody's best interest that a move towards more money in the G-League happens and that players with no interest in school play there.

IIRC Mark Cuban said somewhere that ultimately he’d like to see the youth team models you see in European sports adopted here. I think we could see some sort of fundamental changes in the next decade or two.

Cavs starters minus LeBron were 6-28 in L to Spurs. I don't get the Cedi Osman love, guys stat line is donuts most of the time. Good for 10 points occasionally buts that's about it, doesn't rebound at all. Hood should be starting and probably Nance over Thompson too.

Most of the value in college basketball is the brands, not the players themselves. If the best 50 players in every high school class went to the G-League instead of college, college basketball would take a slight hit, but would it fundamentally change March Madness? I'd say no. People mostly watch to root for their school or the school in the region that they live in, because of gambling (whether traditional or in the form of bracket contests) and because the format is fun and leads to a bunch of upsets. It's really probably in everybody's best interest that a move towards more money in the G-League happens and that players with no interest in school play there.

Fair enough. Sounds good to me.

Bones,

Cedi shouldn't be starting on a team with title aspirations. Lou has to know this - I think he makes a change soon. Or maybe he waits until Love returns before doing anything...

He should be on Danny Ainge's radar as Celtics need a player like him to be real contenders. Be interesting to see if he stays with the Pelicans much longer

Danny wakes from his nightly wet dream, absolutely drenched in jizz, at the prospect of getting AD. He has inquired, among others, and the conversations are reportedly very short with Pelicans basically saying jog-the-fuck-on! They're not even listening to offers, they just hang up

AD himself said this a week ago

Quote:

I think our front office is doing a better job. They’re doing the best job they can do. I feel like we’re moving in the right direction, but you do have to take it year by year and see where it goes. That’s how I’m approaching it. You know, of course, Cuz is a big factor and what he’s going to do or not, but I’m here until 2021, man, and then {I’ll} make a decision from there. I don’t plan on leaving in the next couple of years or anything like that. Like I said, I’ve always wanted to be here and that’s still true.

Holy crap...... Ridiculous ending to Carolina-Miami game..... Joel Berry ties it up with a 3 with 4 seconds to go having trailed the entire second half...... Miami win it with a half court heave at the buzzer.

I see the worth in expanding the G league for players that have no interest in college (or the grades to go) but I personally love college ball.........

I think its appropriate to have multiple pathways into the NBA....... Straight from HS, via college or G league.... That way aspiring players have an array of options and fallbacks. High school phenoms from impoverished backgrounds (like Lebron) obviously want to turn pro ASAP, kids that have marginal NBA talent, come from a middle class background or have some interest in academia would need to weigh up the pros and cons of gaining a college degree versus spending that time in a minor league system.

If the NBA was smart (though to be fair they're probably the best ran league in America at the moment), they would seriously consider cutting back on the number of games.

If you acknowledge the owners' and players' goals are to maximize revenues, why would they do that?

The smartest thing they could do? Take game times down from 48 minutes to 44 minutes. That way you still get the same rights fees, same tickets sold, same parking spots sold, small hit on concessions, but that's it. Meanwhile what was once 12 games' worth of game time is now 13.

I see the worth in expanding the G league for players that have no interest in college (or the grades to go) but I personally love college ball.........

I think its appropriate to have multiple pathways into the NBA....... Straight from HS, via college or G league.... That way aspiring players have an array of options and fallbacks. High school phenoms from impoverished backgrounds (like Lebron) obviously want to turn pro ASAP, kids that have marginal NBA talent, come from a middle class background or have some interest in academia would need to weigh up the pros and cons of gaining a college degree versus spending that time in a minor league system.

I like college ball but could honestly not care less about the pros. Never been to NBA, but I've gone to 2 G-League games, and comparing it to minor league baseball and minor league ice hockey, it is a very distant 3rd place.

That said, I'm about done with collegiate varsity athletics. The NCAA could dissolve tomorrow and I wouldn't bat an eye. Love watching Purdue and N.C. State playing football and basketball, and I want American rugby to grow and the best way that could happen is a successful college rugby competition after enough schools give it varsity status, but I've had enough of tax avoidance, the elevation of athletes to where they are not equal to other students, sham degrees and classes leading to education fraud, the devaluation of the education system in general in this country, kids not qualified to get a high school diploma without social promotion getting scholarships, multi-millionaire coaches, shoe companies, media hypocrisy, a castrated NCAA that can't do anything, state governments that are under capture from alumni and won't do anything, alumni standing up for people that enabled child molesters, people that want to make these kids paid but have zero intention of making them state employees. Anything else?

The kid that allegedly received the $100,000 (and others that have received much less). I've seen some media figures try to say "whatever" and it's light charges that they're going after these assistant coaches on. Um, if the kid or his parent(s) received $100,000, if they did not report that on a tax form, that is tax fraud is it not? Not one single damn media member I've seen has mentioned this since this whole thing blew open last November.

If people want a minor league, go have your damn minor league. It should have nothing to deal with the universities. I hope they enjoy playing in front of 47 people, mostly friends and family. Go ask Nike to pay for it all.

1 - AD is possibly a god and has thrust himself into the MVP convo2 - Jrue is at 100% and back to being an All Star (25 and 9) and one of the best 2-way players in the league and has thrust himself into the DPOY convo3 - Clutch offence4 - Clutch defence!! Yes, probably the biggest reason is that they are playing team defence5 - Mirotic has slotted in seamlessly (has an established relationship with Rondo) and can run many of Boogie's plays6 - Emeka Okafor can still play NBA level defence. His murder at the hands of Kobe was greatly exaggerated7 - The team has rallied around Boogie and they are a tight unit. So much for him and Rondo being cancer

8 - I haven't been able to watch the games live for the past 1-2 weeks so of course they go on a streak (the world in fact revolves around me)

Nice that he gets to go to a contender, I'd love him to be able to get some consistent minutes without getting injured. It's impossible not to feel for the guy continually being let down by his own body.

Carolina did their best to choke the game away but held on for the semi final win v Duke...... Pretty insane stat........ first time that Carolina have beaten Duke in the ACC tournament since '98, when Antawn Jamison and Vince Carter were on the team, Carter is now 40 years old and the oldest player in the NBA.